


I'm Asking You This

by onethingsuniversal



Category: The Prom (2020), The Prom - Sklar/Beguelin/Martin
Genre: (that will make sense soon dw), Alyssa just feels the need to tell Emma about everything on her mind, Established Relationship, F/F, Future Fic, Hamsters, Questions, Worms, not sure how to tag this, so many questions, this ends in the cutest way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-22
Updated: 2021-01-22
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:20:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28919700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onethingsuniversal/pseuds/onethingsuniversal
Summary: It was safe to say that Emma was well and truly infatuated with the woman and each little thing about her, she always had been, and she could bet that she always would be. But that wasn’t to say there weren’t a few things that ever so slightly irked her. She’d be lying if she claimed that to be the truth, which was only natural considering that they’d been living together for years now and there was nothing quite like being constantly surrounded by a person to test your affection for them. It would have been impossible for Alyssa to be entirely saint-like twenty-four hours a day because after all, she was only human and she had her fair share of quirks- hence why Emma found herself occasionally, desperately remembering onto every ounce of fondness she felt for the woman.The most notable of these instances was her general lack of understanding regarding timing.orAlyssa always has lots on her mind and she wants to share it with her girlfriend but has little regard to her desired amount of sleep.
Relationships: Alyssa Greene & Emma Nolan, Alyssa Greene/Emma Nolan
Comments: 19
Kudos: 35





	I'm Asking You This

**Author's Note:**

> hello everyone! this was inspired by a random conversation i had last night and i think it's very cute and very apt for greenelan. it's not too long but i'm pretty proud of it. alyssa is, at least for me, very relatable in this one and i certainly feel for emma.
> 
> please read till the end!! don't want to spoil things but it's adorable
> 
> i really hope you enjoy this!
> 
> ofc a shoutout to kate (AnotherUsernameIllForget) for directly impacting lots of this, including the inspiration for all sorts of specific things, i hope you won't be so embarrassed that you'll have to go through with deleting your identity, i think it's pretty good if i do say so myself.
> 
> (title is from the last time by tswift ofc) (it's still a joke and it's still kate's fault)

Emma loved her girlfriend, she did, more than any other person she’d met ever met. Besides from being the most beautiful woman she had ever had the pleasure of laying eyes on, that isn’t an overstatement if anybody asked her that question the answer would undoubtedly be Alyssa- she was also bright, passionate and all round a brilliant human being. The blonde may have been slightly biased, but Alyssa Greene was, frankly, incredible, and her many, many achievements vouched for that too. She’d soared through college, landing an internship in a prestigious law firm not long afterward, quickly climbing the ranks all whilst forging quite the reputation for herself in the competitive New York law scene. The once terrified teenager Emma had known, who had been too scared to even admit to herself that she was a lesbian let alone the rest of the world, was now spending her work week (and most evenings, in spite of her wife’s protest) fighting for the rights of queer kids like, she had once been, changing their lives for the better all whilst simultaneously striving for wider progress in the most graceful way.

Everything about her was admirable, her outlook on life, the way she treated others, her sharp mind, her refreshing perspectives and made Emma infinitely proud, not that she could ever be anything less. Most important of all was the way she loved Emma. Despite everything they’d been through in the past years of their relationship, all of the trials and hardship they had survived, that had never changed. The way she could make her feel safe even when nobody else could, with the simplest of hugs or the whisper of a few words was her most valuable trait, at least in Emma’s opinion. Her willingness to open her arms to her whenever she needed it was something Emma tried to mimic as much as she could, for if she could make Alyssa feel a fraction of that comfort, she’d be content.

It was safe to say that Emma was well and truly infatuated with the woman and each little thing about her, she always had been, and she could bet that she always would be. But that wasn’t to say there weren’t a few things that ever so slightly irked her. She’d be lying if she claimed that to be the truth, which was only natural considering that they’d been living together for years now and there was nothing quite like being constantly surrounded by a person to test your affection for them. It would have been impossible for Alyssa to be entirely saint-like twenty-four hours a day because after all, she was only human and she had her fair share of quirks- hence why Emma found herself occasionally, desperately remembering onto every ounce of fondness she felt for the woman.

The most notable of these instances was her general lack of understanding regarding timing.

By timing Emma didn’t mean punctuality, not in the slightest way. Alyssa was always on time, for every single thing she did, and she always had been. Emma couldn’t fault her on her time keeping because she was much better at that than she was, if anything, it was without fail, always Alyssa encouraging Emma to leave the house with the guaranteed amount of time she needed to get where she was going. No matter what the calibre, be it her arrival to their previous sanctuary (the band closet), getting there ten minutes early for a case meeting for work for a client she’d gotten particularly attached too, a gathering at their favourite bar with friends for a night anticipating being filled with far too much alcohol, or even just coming home exactly on schedule- Alyssa was punctual. That wasn’t the issue.

The problem was that whenever Alyssa had a grand idea, or she felt she needed to share something with her girlfriend she would- without fail. Now, it wasn’t that Emma didn’t want to hear what she had to say, it was quite the opposite- she loved the thought and imagination that went into it and she always wanted to hear the (mostly) brilliant ideas. But what she was sure of was that she definitely wasn’t a fan of hearing them in the middle of the night, or as she was falling asleep, or straight after she’d been woken up for the very purpose of being spoken too or at whatever unearthly time Alyssa decided on. It wasn’t the biggest dilemma because usually Emma would murmur some sort of approval before turning back over and falling back to sleep until she was actually ready to wake up for the day, as to not totally ignore her. Emma would try to be enthusiastic, she really would, but there was only so awake she could be. She’d always been very grumpy when she’s tired, it was just her nature. She knew Alyssa for sure knew that, so it was on her to deal with the repercussions of waking Emma up sooner than she’d preferred to be.

\------

“Psst- Emma…” the brunette whispered as she tapped her currently sleeping girlfriend’s shoulder, trying to get her attention but to little success.

“Em- are you awake??” Alyssa prompted again, voice a little louder, finally earning a disgruntled groan from Emma as she rolled slowly over from her previous comfortable position on her side of the bed- that Alyssa absolutely invaded in order to wake her up.

“…What? You ok?” Emma asked groggily, voice still thick with sleep and a hint of concern as she squinted through the darkness at the woman next to her, lying propped up on her elbows, more awake than Emma thought she would ever be again now she’d been woken up at god-knows what time it was.

“I’m fine.” She clarified quickly, to let Emma relax slightly, “I’ve just been thinking, I have a question...” She started, causing Emma to groan internally, this was going to be one of those questions…

“Go ahead babe…” Emma sighed, staring up at the ceiling as she anticipated the query. It was easier to grin and bear it by hearing her out for the ten minutes it would take than it was to get her to go back to sleep, inquest still buzzing around her mind.

“Would you still love me if I was a worm?” Alyssa asked, a blatant sincerity and innocence in her voice. Despite being highly educated and one of the most intelligent people Emma knew, as much as it was a little annoying, questions like this made her heart melt into a puddle.

“Why’d you ask Lys?” Emma countered, buying herself some extra time to gather her thoughts, for she presumed her girlfriend would be after a sentimental, sweet answer which she certainly couldn’t do that with the current hazy state of her mind, and it slightly worried her what would happen if she didn’t deliver that.

“I was just wondering because I love you and I’d love you if you were a worm and we don’t know if people can turn into worms… what if every worm we’ve ever accidentally stood on was actually a person? But then if you break a worm in half it can be two worms, so then if that happened would you have two worm-girlfriends and would you rename one of them, which one would I be? Would you love one more or-“ Alyssa spiralled, her voice growing thicker with panic, until Emma interrupted her with a gentle kiss to her lips- surprising her slightly because during her rant she hadn’t even realised Emma had shifted towards her.

“Hey, hey. I would still love you if you were a worm baby, I’ll love you whatever you are- you know that” She reassured her quickly, sounding as awake as she possibly could be in the moment. 

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure.”

“What about if you had two smaller me-worms?”

“I’d look after you both equally.”

“Really? Would you keep us inside or in the yard?”

“Uh-“ Emma wasn’t quite ready for logistic based questions, so she answered warily, “Inside?” 

Alyssa turning into a worm was, in Emma’s humble opinion, very very unlikely so she wasn’t sure she had to be totally dead set on that stance, but she did know that there was very little that the woman could do to prevent her from loving her whole-heartedly like she had done for so many years. Emma recognised the delirious speech as a result of stress that she had been under from work the past week, it had happened before when she’d been knee-deep in case notes, her brain equally as full, and it usually presented with frequent happenings like this. So instead of mocking the slightly strange proposition she bit her tongue and let her snuggle into her- there was a time and a place for her to joke but this was neither.

“Thanks, I just wanted to check, in case, you know?” Alyssa sputtered, slightly teary for reasons beyond her comprehension- what was sad about worms?

“I know, I know. It’s alright, let’s sleep now…” Emma suggested, as another yawn took over her body, she didn’t even want to know what time it was- time to fall asleep sleep again.

“I love you, sorry for waking you up.” Alyssa mumbled into Emma’s chest where she’d made herself cosy. Finally able to rest now that the pressing question had been released from her mind.

“I love you too.” Emma sighed contently as she got comfortable once again, kissing her forehead gently before falling to sleep again, Alyssa tucked safely in her arms- any thoughts of worm-induced panic far from her head.

As much as she cherished her sleep, if Alyssa could wake her up when she needed her, that also meant she was sleeping next to her, in their bed, in their own house. A benefit she’d always be secretly happy to give up a couple of her forty winks for, no matter what.

\------

Sometimes, the questions were fuelled less by emotions, and more by Alyssa’s genuine curiosity. She’d always been a learner, she just liked to know things- no matter how small or insignificant they might be. It wasn’t her fault, she just struggled to turn her brain off sometimes, and when that happened questions would run wild around her conscience. Occasionally one of these conundrums was so big that she had no choice but to wake up Emma- at least that was how she rationalised it to herself. Of course, she felt slightly bad, her girlfriend always looked so at ease as she slept, with that cute little pout on her face that she loved so much, but there were, ever so slightly, more important things, like the answer to the extremely pressing question she had.

“Emma love, I need to ask you something.” Alyssa announced as she pressed light kisses to her bare shoulders, hoping maybe that would decrease the annoyance slightly. To be fair, it wasn’t like it was the middle of the night, it was early morning, marginally better but still slightly better was something. Emma scrunched her face up slightly as she came around from her deep slumber, peeking at Alyssa through hooded eyes as she adjusted to the new light that was spilling from the lamp her girlfriend had flicked on.

“W-what time is it?” Emma grunted; brows furrowed from the rousing.

“Just past five- it doesn’t matter… I just want to ask something.”

“Five? ‘Lyssa, come on you know that I don’t wake up until at least nine at the weekends.” Emma complained, trying to turn away from her wife but she was stopped by a firm hand on her arm again, she huffed, “Fine, I guess I’m up now, go ahead?”

Alyssa smiled as her girlfriend gave in- mission accomplished.

“How many teeth do hamsters have? They seem pretty small and don’t they keep food in their little cheek pouches so is there even a lot of space for teeth in their tiny heads- but I know they do have at least two…” she mused, half to herself.

“Couldn’t you have just googled it? Why would I know?”

“Well, you had a hamster when you lived with you Grandma for a while, what was his name? Cavatelli? Strozzapreti?”

“Spaghetti.” Emma interjected bluntly; sleepy irritation clear in her voice.

“Ah yeah of course- well I never was a hamster owner but you were so I just assumed you’d know…” Alyssa said, her thought process breaking down as she said it why would Emma ever-

“Why would I count his teeth? He would have most certainly bitten me.”

“You’re right. Sorry for waking you. I’ll google it now- you can go back to sleep for a few hours.”

Emma only shook her head fondly, before rolling back over and shutting her eyes tight. She couldn’t be mad at her girlfriend for more than a few minutes, no matter how hard she tried. From her partial dream-state she heard her reach for her phone, followed by the tapping of her fingers onto the screen. She’d just about fallen back to sleep so she could snooze for the remaining early hours of the morning, when Alyssa called out again…

“Sixteen! Hamsters have sixteen teeth! Four incisors and twelve molars. Neat!”

“Alyssa-“ Emma said through gritted teeth, not even bothering to open an eye.

“Sorry! - sorry!” Alyssa said chuckling slightly at the ridiculousness of the situation and how strangely domestic it felt, quieting her tone as a faint blush spread over her face, kissing Emma’s face apologetically.

“I’ll let you sleep now” she whispered as she slipped out of their bedroom and heading to the kitchen for a coffee in case she had any other ideas that could disturb Emma anymore.

As she left, she spoke under her breath feeling inspired by her recent revelation, "Maybe we could get a hamster…”, in reply she heard a quiet but indignant voice coming from the direction of the bed.

“No chance.” 

\------

The couple were settling down for bed one Friday night, the evening hadn’t been anything particularly special they’d just spent it having a casual dinner that Emma had thrown together, as she got home from work an hour earlier than her girlfriend that particular day of the week, and then they’d snuggled down on the couch to watch a Netflix new release. Neither of them payed much attention to it though, both too distracted by the act of sharing soft kisses as they finally unwound for the week, without a care in the world.

There was something playing on Alyssa’s mind though, something big. She’d always been one for questions, but this was a question she’d anticipated for so long that it almost felt too big for her to even say anymore- not that she didn’t want too. She really, really wanted to ask her this question, she just couldn’t find the nerve until later that night. The pair had been lounging in bed since the end of the film they’d half-watched, neither of them saying anything, just enjoying the closeness of skin and the easy silence. Alyssa was half sure that her girlfriend had fallen asleep, she didn’t really have a way to tell because of the position they’d found themselves in, but she found herself with the fateful words on her lips, ready to tumble out.

“Hey Em…” she tried softly.

“Yeah?” Emma murmured.

“I have a question.” Alyssa said, psyching herself up just a little.

Emma rolled her eyes with a slight smile on her face, not that her girlfriend could see that, at the familiar statement, she didn’t even have a guess of how many times she had heard that over the years.

“Go for it darling.” Emma reacted.

Alyssa reached up to take her hand gently, not daring to turn around to face her for fear that it might discourage her from the mission she’d started on. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her heart that was beating violently in her chest.

“Emma Nolan, will you marry me?”

Emma’s breath hitched loudly in her throat as she tried to comprehend the question she’d just been asked, even though she’d probably been asked hundreds of questions by the woman this might be the only one that had left her mind completely blank, she couldn’t make sense of her now-spinning brain. Alyssa wanted to marry her. For real.

“Babe...?” Alyssa asked, turning and sitting herself up to sit opposite the blonde who had a comedic look of shock painted all over her face. She smiled fondly as she pulled the ring box that had been weighing heavy in her pocket all evening, since she’d finally first felt the pull towards it. She flicked it open and offered it towards Emma, taking in the sight of it in the little velvet box for what would hopefully be the last time. She’d bought the ring almost a month ago and had been waiting for the perfect moment to ask her to be her fiancé.

She held her breath as she waited for a response, or even just some sort of verbal acknowledgement from the woman.

“Y-yes! Of course, yes, yes, a thousand times yes! Oh my god…” Emma stuttered, hands shaking as Alyssa slipped the silver ring onto her finger, wide grins on both of their faces, before pulling her into a passionate kiss that engulfed every feeling they were surrounded by. They were engaged - holy shit- Emma had certainly not been expecting that.

In that moment Emma realised that she would probably never care about what time Alyssa would inevitably inquire about something in the same way again. Because as much as it would inevitably happen again, at some point they would be wives. Alyssa would be her wife, and she would be holding onto something far stronger than any grudge- wedding vows.

For better or for worse. For richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health. To love and to cherish.

**Author's Note:**

> hehe i hope you liked the ending- i know some of you bright sparks will have been expecting it from the general vibes of the fic.i hadn't planned it but a proposal seemed fitting in a fic based around asking questions.
> 
> (you're welcome kate i know you love a proposal story)
> 
> comments & kuddos, of course, are appreciated!
> 
> :)


End file.
